“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” [1]
His fleeing from the presence of the Lord, placed those in the boat with him in peril. The solution to save their lives was for those in charge of the passengers to throw Jonah overboard, which they did not want to do, but finally under duress they did. They asked the Lord to forgive them. [2]
“The Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jesus compared Jonah’s time in the belly of the great fish to His time in the grave. “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” [3]
“Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.” Part of his prayer included this confession, “Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.” [4] He allowed something other than God to become greater to follow than God. In the process, He forsook God’s mercy which every person needs to be saved from their sin. Salvation is of the Lord!
“So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” After Jonah’s resurrection from the watery graveyard, the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” This time Jonah obeyed the Lord. The result was that the people of Nineveh turned to God to save them. [5]
Jonah should have trusted God the first time God called him, but the Lord allowed Jonah to experience a death and resurrection sort of speak. Jesus Christ went through such an experience for us. Due to our disobedience to God not for His own! But He came back from the dead and now, like Jonah, He sees many turning to God as they hear His Gospel. In this way, Jonah, by God’s work of grace and not his own, became a prophet and a metaphor of the Gospel of Christ.
[1] Jonah 1:1-3
[2] Jonah 1:4-15
[3] Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40
[4] Jonah 2:1, 8-9
[5] Jonah 2:10; 3:1-10
[1] Jonah 1:1-3
[2] Jonah 1:4-15
[3] Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40
[4] Jonah 2:1, 8-9
[5] Jonah 2:10; 3:1-10
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